Back to main page
Well, it's official: we finally untied the dock lines and have escaped the crazed life of cars, stress and high speed life. Here is what we have done so far:
After a day sail, wonderful potluck and pig roast at Sand Island near St. Helens we gave the title for Ellen's car to our church, and were finally freed of the burden of owning cars. Another one of our major expenses that has just gone away. The planet probably appreciates that we are not polluting the air nearly as much now.
One of the not so pleasant parts of leaving on a voyages is that most of your friends are not able to join you. We had some heart tugging moments as we said so long to our friends and neighbors of the last few years here in Oregon. There weren't any good bye's, just see you later's, because we will hopefully be crossing wakes with each other in the future.
Our first night at anchor was under a full moon near Goble, Oregon. Once anchored we rowed Abu (our trustee wooden rowing pram) ashore to Sandy Island and watched the sun set silhouetting Mandolin. Went for a short walk on the island, then had a restful night, realizing that we had finally done it.
Sandy Island, Oregon to Cathlamet, Washington: Columbia River
Ellen and I did 2 hour watches motoring down the river. The lower Columbia is really pretty with all the trees and mountains on either side. One could spend a lot of time anchoring here and there. A kayak would be great for exploring the inlets. Once in Cathlamet we pumped out the holding tank for our head (marine toilet) I was amazed that they charge money to do this. One would think that it would be encouraged to have boats pump out and be legal instead of pumping waste into the river. We found a nice place to anchor just outside of the harbor. Two anchors were required because of the tide and wind switching directions.
Cathlamet, Washington
Project day: We didn't go anywhere, but spent the whole day painting, doing bright work, and hooking up the Solar panels, autopilot, inverter, radar and GPS. Rowed into town for a walk in the evening.
Our dentist, Douglas Martin, started a new practice in town recently. We were able to get in touch with them on the phone, and plan to meet them tomorrow.
Cathlamet, Washington to Ilwaco Washington
Rowed into town on this rainy morning. Met Douglas Martin and his wife, Jill, at their new practice. They were able to fit us into their schedule for a cleaning and checkup. Our teeth are looking good. They were wonderful and let us borrow their car to pick up some supplies and a tide table across town. Thanks you two.
We lifted anchor and started down the river. The tide was giving us a nice push that kept going faster the closer we got to the ocean. Our GPS was giving us 7 to 8 knots over the ground as we went by Astoria, we saw 11 knots a ways past the Hammond harbor entrance. At this point we decided to turn up river into the current to see if we could make any way. The GPS dropped to 0.0 and we could just barely detect any motion up river. That made us very committed to making the Ilwaco harbor or be swept out onto the Columbia river bar at a very bad time. A strong ebb tide as we were experiencing can create breaking waves as the river hits the ocean swells. Not a good situation. We were able to make the Ilwaco entrance and get a guest slip at the Port of Ilwaco for $8.50/night, quite the deal.
Ilwaco, Washington onto the Pacific, into Neah Bay, Washington.
Did some last minute preparations for the ocean this morning, before heading for the dreaded Columbia River Bar. We timed our crossing for an incoming tide, which turned out to be perfect. The hardest part was weaving our way through all the boats fishing inside the bar. Once we were past them, Todd went down below to bake cornbread while I followed the green buoys out to sea. Luckily, a tropical weather system had passed through the day before bringing with it swells from the Southwest, a not very common experience on the Pacific Coast. I thought we would have a bouncy bouncy ride up the coast bucking into the swells, but it turned out to be a very pleasant motor. We were blessed with sunny skies and a Southwest swell for our first trip up the coast.
During daylight we had watches of 2 hours on/2 hours off. At night, we switched to 3 hours on/3 hours off, which we continued through the next day (8/22/97). We had a glorious sunset of reds and purples silhouetting and under lighting the clouds. The morning saw the seas even flatter than the day before and an absolutely beautiful sunrise over the coast of Washington. The swells were very glassy -- no ripples breaking their surface.
Came around Cape Flattery about 3pm and into Neah Bay at 5:30pm. We anchored out, took showers and slept -- until the town started shooting off fireworks from the beach. Well, Todd woke up to watch the show; Ellen was oblivious to the whole thing. Turns out the Macaw Nation was celebrating Macaw Days (Neah Bay is in an Indian Reservation). They were having a parade the next morning when we went in for fuel.
Neah Bay, WA to Port Angeles, WA.
Left the Neah Bay fuel dock at 11am and motored all day down the Straights of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles. Silly us, we thought we could make it all the way to Port Townsend. Guess we've never done this trip before... Todd wired up our knot meter while off watch and then wondered why he got so tired toward the end of his watch, go figure. Accomplished Todd's dream of anchoring out in front of a nice hotel. Anchored in front of the Doubletree and enjoyed the fact that we had the same view and could set our own checkout time. Okay, okay so we don't have a bathtub or maid service, details...
Port Angeles, WA to Port Townsend, WA.
Enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in. Ellen cooked a huge breakfast of potatoes o'brian, three egg mushroom cheese omelettes (Thanks for the ranch eggs John and family), orange juice and tea. She couldn't decide between the potatoes or the omelettes, so she cooked both. We decided we were having a better breakfast than the people in the hotel restaurant for a lot less money and a lot more fun. It's nice to have time to cook a big breakfast when you feel like it.
Took the dingy off the foredeck and rowed ashore. Port Angeles is a lot cuter than we remember it. We walked through the downtown where all the shops are and where the ferries leave. Also did part of the waterfront walk that encompasses the harbor. All those potatoes and eggs made us move pretty slow, so we went back to the boat for a nap.
Left around 2:15 for Port Townsend. No wind when we left, but it finally picked up about 2 miles from Port Townsend. Up went the sails and off went the engine for the first time since before Sandy Island on the Columbia River. How appropriate to sail into the town where our wonderful sails were made.
Found a place to anchor near some other boats. It was somewhat crowded for the small size of the anchorage so we chose to anchor outside the boats in deeper water. The wind is off the water toward the beach making for a rolly ride and making us a bit nervous. The cruising life is not all sunsets and pretty beaches. I(Todd) am up right now on anchor watch at 1:30 in the morning. The wind and waves picked up quite a bit which concerned me. I have another anchorage planned in the GPS if things get worse. Another boat that was anchored closest to the beach just drug anchor and is now on the beach listing sharply to Starboard. The tide is falling, which I suppose is a good thing since it will be out of the water soon. This is the second boat we have seen on the beach this trip. The first was in Neah Bay. Let's try not to ever do that with Mandolin. The wind is letting up some. I will watch for a while longer then get Ellen up to take over or if it looks okay, I will go back to sleep.
Port Townsend, WA.
A boat on the beach is a very sad thing. Luckily, it was on sand and didn't look any worse for wear. Who knows where the owners were. I don't think they love their boat. It's not in very good condition. The owners finally showed up late in the afternoon and were able to get their boat off the beach undamaged. A lesson well learned we hope.
Had coffee and bagels with our friend Baila. It was good to sit in her snug home while the wind and rain raged outside.
Went for an rip-roaring afternoon sail with our sailmaker, Carol Hasse, and two of her crew, Gay and Makai (hope we spelled that right...!). We went out into 25-30 knots of wind with a double reefed main and our Genoa reefed down to a working jib. It was great to experiment with sail plans for heavy air. We tried to heave-to with some success with these sails and then put up our storm sails and experimented with them. Lots of good learning happened this afternoon. And the sun shone down on us during it all. Very welcome indeed.
We tied up to a free overnight dock and proceeded to rescue two dinghies that had come untied or ripped loose in the heavy wind and swell. Made a new friend, Walter, in the process who invited us up to his apartment for a shower and supper. We were glad to take him up on both. Even got to hear the latest chapter in a book that he is writing.
Port Townsend, WA to Victoria, BC.
Got a late start to Victoria after several errands and visiting Leah and The Ravenscroft. The Ravenscroft is an outstanding Bed and Breakfast and happens to be the place where Todd proposed to me and where we spent two nights on our honeymoon. Leah has created one of the most welcoming Bed and Breakfasts you could ever experience from her fabulous gourmet breakfasts to cookies and coffee or tea in the evening by the fireplace. No detail in the decor or hospitality has been left to chance. Be sure to look her up next time you're in Port Townsend. She even sent us off with two bags of cookies for our voyage.
The wind was pretty stiff leaving Port Townsend, so we put up the sails with reefs. Soon the wind died enough to take out the reefs. Ellen cooked us a wonderful spaghetti dinner while underway. We finally got a chance to try out our Monitor Windvane steering, which worked well once it was adjusted properly. The wind eventually died out, so the motor came on for the rest of trip. We arrived at the inner harbor of Victoria at 1 in the morning with our Canadian courtesy flag flying off our starboard spreader. We cleared customs for the first time aboard Mandolin, then found a dock to tie up to for a night of needed rest.
Victoria, BC
Rolled out of bed around 9am and called S/V "Carita" on the VHF radio. We had been looking for our friends Bob and Christine Brunken and Kevin and Sheryl Ritz since Saturday, and it turns out that we were tied up to the same dock. It was great to see them again. After a morning of coffee, tea, porridge and conversation we went to the Maritime Museum with Bob and Christine. We need to finish the rest of the museum tomorrow. We did Victoria right by having afternoon tea, then a row around the harbor.
Carita is bound for Neah Bay tomorrow, then down the coast to Portland. We wish them a voyage as comfortable as ours up from Portland. We will be heading north from here, deciding where to go as the mood strikes us.
Home - Logs - Stories - Photos - Statistics